Id be somewhat surprised if wearing an N95 when vaxxed/boosted wasnt pretty low risk vs Omicron, but fair point.
What annoys me is that I would be extremely surprised if everyone wearing N95 and being vaxxed/boosted wasnt effective in making a lot of places low risk, even with Omicron.
Bottom line, we are a point where first world people that want to avoid at least serious consequences can live a fairly normal existence (albeit masked and presenting vaxxed cards).
Pity the people want to vax but can’t.
But those that can but don’t will live (and die) in their own reality. Of course the brand new Pfizer pill will save them. While that’s any less experimental, I have no idea.
So endemic is going to be redefined and way too many will die.
Sure. But my point is that while communities can and should do that, individuals and communities that reject that level of mitigation probably don’t really impact the communities that want to implement that level of mitigation all that much. Because Elite Liberal City X can impose on the visiting Shithead Author testing requirements, masking requirements, vaccination requirements, whatever. And since Elite Liberal City X is eventually going to be faced with a wave it has to mitigate, does it really matter all that much the level of mitigation taking place outside the city? It’s kind of a carryover in thinking from when we maybe thought that we could keep covid from being endemic if only Insert Shithead Group quarantined/masked/got vaccinated.
I certainly agree, though there is a whole spectrum of “withdraw from society”, that could be as severe as “never leave the house” and as innocuous as “skip the Super Bowl”.
So heres a question then (not directed at you, just a jumping off point).
It seems possible Omicron can cause more severe outcomes in the vaxxed but unboosted.
No reason to think that 2 shots wont offer significant protection against bad outcomes, but possible it going to be significantly higher risk than against delta and the prior variants. Very possible that JnJ sees even more erosion.
But also very possible that, with a booster, most of the severe protection is restored at least for x amount of time.
At some point do (the royal) we then start saying fuck the unboosted in the same way that we say fuck the unvaxxed? Why or why not?
But why do we say fuck the unvaccinated?!? It’s one thing when you could plausibly blame the continued existence of the pandemic on the unvaccinated. Now that the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” ship has well and truly sailed, I don’t know. Do you get furious at strangers who don’t wear seat belts and motorcycle helmets?
Yesterday. Somewhat facetious but there is a lot of intolerance for having to take precautions because 30%ish are morons. I don’t have any person experience with anyone not wanting to boost that already got “fully” vaxxed. The old neighbor lady is somehow convinced she can’t have the mRNA but she got JJ and is actively looking for another JJ as a booster.
Politicians don’t have the stones or maybe the electorate is net too moronic to have unvaxxed lockdowns. Lots of handwringing in Philly over vax cards needed for indoor activities.
Im not with you on us having no reason to be angry at many of the unvaccinated or having no interest in their vaccination choice. They are harming society in much greater ways than people who dont wear seatbelts are. I do think its a little more complicated than “fuck the unvaccinated” and is going to get more complicated in the coming months.
For months and months the message from the Federal government has been get your two shots, go back to normal, breakthroughs are rare. Heck we wont even authorize boosters for everyone. So I think it is going to be pretty hard to get booster rates up to where vax rates are today and think “fuck the unboosted” is a bit harsh just because now we’ve gotten a shift to “my bad, go boost fast everyone good luck good luck CVS puts appointments online every day at 5 AM”
Also think Omicron shows the danger of tying mitigation to vax rates instead of other public health KPI.
People who don’t wear helmets on their motorcycle usually have the decency to just die when they face negative consequences rather than occupying an icu bed for a month that could have been used by someone who took reasonable precautions.
But then there’s different kinds of unvaccinated. Someone who got the virus and recovered, are they the same thing as someone who never got it and never got vaccinated? I don’t think there’s terribly good evidence for what sort of protection infection gives vs. vaccine, so I could see that as a reasonable choice to not get vaccinated. Similarly, I got vaccinated in March and got a breakthrough case in August. I haven’t gotten a booster and probably won’t, at least for a while. Because again, I don’t think there is good evidence that a booster is indicated in that situation. So when do I make the transition from Fully Vaccinated Good Boy to Subhuman Unboosted Piece of Shit?
So for me, it’s much better to just not judge people for their vaccination status at all. In any case, it doesn’t change a thing if you’re mad at the unvaccinated or not, so why bother. And I’ve convinced three or four people to get vaccinated with reason and kindness, and I doubt that an attitude of GET VACCINATED YOU PIECE OF SHIT would have been as effective.
I don’t think this is accurate. I’m not sure exactly what you mean by “liberal elites” but the liberal elites as I understand them (like say the Democrats in the US or the Liberal party in Canada) aren’t being nearly forceful enough with the antivaxxers. I see way more accommodation for the antivaxxers than I see yelling at them.
Fair. I still think getting covid is enough of a reality check that most anti-vaxxers will want this pill if they are high risk.
Liberal elites are just a rando who said something mean on the internet that then gets baselessly generalized to all liberals. Elites have nothing to do with actual status or power. It’s just to otherize liberals.
Im not arguing to go around calling unvaccinated people pieces of shit to try and get them to vaccinate.
You should probably get a booster FWIW, why arent you planning to get one out of curiousity? Given Omicron and 4 months past infection and the possibility of waning, seems like the risk reward is in favor of getting one within the next month or so. Data on repeated reinfections is somewhat mixed and your third shot vax risk is still super low.
The same stupidity, selfishness and asshattery also happens in countries without a two-party system.
Yes everyone wants a do X, get a guaranteed Y outcome. However no one told the virus which generates a high enough level of diversity to continuously challenge our defenses (especially when we allow a high amount of spread).
People want simple answers. Polio was simple. Smallpox was simple. RNA viruses are inherently not simple (immunologically).
And they don’t cause other motorcyclists to crash in any appreciable number.
Seat belt laws were railed against mightily. Helmet laws vary state to state for this very reason.
One could argue those against helmet laws have a redeeming value. As organ donors.
Having our court system as a completely adversarial system also sucks.